Acorda's attorney Gerald Flattmann, a partner at the law firm
Paul Hastings, was "extremely gratified" by the patent office's
decision.

"It further validates the strength of Acorda patent portfolio
protecting Ampyra," he said in a statement.

Acorda's share price surged in the hours after the market closed.
The stock traded up more than 29% in the late session.

Bass has been going after numerous pharmaceutical companies and
their "BS
patents." It's all part of an "activist short strategy" that
Bass thinks will stop so-called pay-for-delay agreements that
prevent lower-cost generic drug competitors from entering the
market.

He has formed the Coalition for Affordable Drugs (CFAD), and the
group has now filed 18 IPR petitions with the US Patent and
Trademark Office challenging the validity of some drugmakers'
patents while also betting against the company's stocks.

On
February 10, Bass filed the IPR challenging the Acorda's
patent for Ampyra, a treatment that helps improve walking in
patients with multiple sclerosis. Then, on February 27, Bass
filed
another IPR, this time against the company's patent on
"Sustained Release Aminopyridine Composition." Acorda's share
price tumbled in the weeks that followed.

The denial of the two IPR petitions sets a worrying precedent for
Bass. He has also targeted patents held by Biogen, Jazz
Pharmaceuticals, Shire, and Celgene.

Celgene, which Bass has filed five IPRs against, recently filed a
motion with the USPTO for sanctions on a claim of "abuse of
process" by the Coalition for Affordable Drugs.

Bass' CFAD said in
a response that even if the fund made money, its actions
served a greater social good by potentially saving American
consumers significant amounts of money. The response said:

CFAD's IPRs are part of its investment strategy, and it will only
succeed by invalidating patents, which would serve the socially
valuable purpose of reducing drug prices artificially priced
above the socially optimum level. And even if, despite its best
efforts, it does not profit — each petition that knocks down a
barrier to generic entry benefits the public.

It should be axiomatic that people do not undertake socially
valuable activity for free — not Celgene, not generics, not
shareholders, and not investment funds. Low drug prices will not
simply materialize. They must be brought about by agents who will
invest significant capital and do the hard work of identifying
and challenging weak patents.